“I’ll do my best, buddy, but I make no promises.” I patted Gray on the back, giving him a wink.
“That’s all I ask, Xavier. Let’s go see Ava and check in to make sure that Chase is behaving himself?”
Ava’s calm voice floated out into the hallway as we approached her room. “Chase, come sit by me and hold my hand.”
“Are you hurt? Do you want me to page the nurse?” I could hear the panic in Chase’s voice and had to stifle a laugh.
“I’m fine, honey, but I could just use an extra hand to hold.”
“She’s got this under control,” I told Gray. We walked into the room and Ava was propped up in bed with Brandon on one side and Chase on the other. “Hi gorgeous.”
“Uncle Xavier is here,” Ava said to her belly. “He’ll be singing you beautiful lullabies as soon as he gets to hold you.”
I dropped a kiss on her head and patted Chase’s shoulder in what I hoped was a comforting manner. “Has the doctor said how long she thinks you’ll be in labor?”
“I’ll be lucky to have this baby tonight,” Ava replied. “I guess she’ll be here when she’s ready.”
“It might be a boy, my love,” Brandon interjected. We all laughed at the byplay between the two lovebirds.
An hour or longer passed and not much progress had occurred with Ava’s labor. The nurse asked us all to leave the room except Brandon so she could get some rest. It was apparent that it would be many hours before the little guy or gal made an appearance.
Ben was due home in a few hours and I wanted to be the first thing he saw when he crossed the threshold. I was going to tell him I loved him as soon as he opened the door. Maybe I’d say it while wearing nothing at all. I figured I’d hang around for a while longer and then head on home to meet my guy.
“I’m going down to the cafeteria and getting you guys some good coffee,” I said to Gray and Chase after a half hour passed. We’d already sampled the shit in the vending machine and I’d never risk their health by bringing them a second cup. I was glad to get up and get my blood flowing. The TV in our waiting room wasn’t working and the time just seemed to drag on.
“Hazelnut for Gray,” Chase called to me as I walked away.
As I passed through the hospital, I noticed an odd hush about the place. I saw several nurses gathered around a TV at their station. I couldn’t tell what they were looking at, but it must have been something tragic by the looks on their faces. I stepped off the elevator on the first floor and noticed the same lull throughout the corridors while I made my way to the cafeteria. I saw people gathered around the TV in one of the waiting rooms and I almost stopped to see what the hell had happened, but I decided to keep going. I was in line to pay for coffee when trickles of conversation around me penetrated my happy thoughts of seeing Ben later that night.
Plane headed for Dulles International Airport crashed in Missouri.
Plane was scheduled to land at Dulles at 10:00 pm
No survivors
“Oh God. No. No. No. NO!” The hair stood up on the back of my neck. Couldn’t be! Fear gripped me so tight I could barely breathe. My heart tried to pound its way out of my body as my legs threatened to give out on me. “Ben.” I whispered his name like a prayer.
“Sir, are you okay?” A nurse on break rushed over to my side.
“F-f-flight number,” I stuttered. “Did they say the flight number? I need to know the flight number. Ben,myBen was on a plane.”
“Sit down, honey. I’ll see what I can find out for you.” The kind nurse helped me over to a chair and walked out to find the nearest TV. It seemed like she was gone for hours, but it was probably only a few minutes. She squatted down in front of me and took my hands in hers. “It was flight 1486. The plane originally took off from LAX and had a layover in Colorado.”
I jerked my hands free, wrapped my arms around myself, and began to rock back and forth. I could hear her talking, but her words didn’t penetrate my brain. I was locked so deep in despair that I couldn’t comprehend anything other than Ben, my beautiful Ben, was gone. Darkness began to descend upon me and I was powerless to fend it off.
“Xavier.” Chase’s compassionate, sorrowful voice finally penetrated through the darkness. “We’ve got him. Thank you, miss,” I heard him say to someone, probably the nurse who helped me.
“Ben. My Ben is gone, Chase.” Two sets of arms pulled me close and held on tight while I cried a torrent of anguished tears. “I never told him.”
“Never told him what?” Gray asked.
“I never told him that I love him. He died without knowing how I felt.”
“He didn’t need the words, sweetie.” Chase’s voice broke and he cried with me. “It was so obvious to everyone how much you love him. I promise you that he knew.”
“Van! Oh my God! Someone needs to call Van.”
“We’ll call him on the way home. Just let me tell Ava that we’re leaving and I ...”
